4 ms·

Similarly here. School wasn't the best fit for me and tech was great because (like politics, which I also spent ~5 years in) you didn't need a fancy degree to g

Similarly here. School wasn't the best fit for me and tech was great because (like politics, which I also spent ~5 years in) you didn't need a fancy degree to get a job.

Karrot_Kream 9y ago
> you didn't need a fancy degree to get a job. What's wrong with a fancy degree? I don't understand why fancy degree is used as a pejorative around here. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that most people these days that come from bootcamps make more money than people with "fancy degree"s.
- Rjevski 9y ago
  Nothing wrong per se, but personally I see it as a waste of time - you could've built real products and actually improved the world during the time wasted on that fancy degree.
  - Karrot_Kream 9y ago
    > actually improved the world during the time You're gonna have to really qualify that statement. The vast majority of tech startups do not improve the world in any way.
    - Rjevski 9y ago
      Okay, so does the vast majority of degrees improve the world? Even if 1 out of 1000 startups improved the world it's still an improvement over students writing (often crappy) code just to prove their university they're worth enough to get that degree.
  - pigscantfly 9y ago
    What about all of the grad students working and doing research? I'd argue that their labor improves society more than the average startup.
- awgme 9y ago
  Nothing is wrong with a fancy degree, and I don't think OP is invalidating or shining a negative light on a fancy degree. OP is just saying that you could also get into tech/politics without the necessity of requiring one
  - barsonme 9y ago
    yep. i wasn't looking down on a 'fancy degree' at all. in fact, i'd love to have one!
- Klockan 9y ago
  The pejorative is for companies that are requiring fancy degrees for simple jobs and not for the degrees themselves.
- stale2002 9y ago
  It is not that there is anything wrong with a fancy degree per se. The problem is the opposite. People with fancy degrees often look down on others who DON'T have fancy degrees. Thus, other people often engage in defense, counter ribbing at the other side. But we need to be aware that the current culture context of this it is very common for Fancy Degree people to be praised and everyone else to be looked down upon.
  - Karrot_Kream 9y ago
    > The problem is the opposite. People with fancy degrees often look down on others who DON'T have fancy degrees. Arrogance is not a desirable trait in any person, but doesn't a fancy degree take work? I find it interesting that on HN we seem to hold up startup employees as shining examples but fancy degree holders as corrupt power brokers, when both take quite a bit of effort. > But we need to be aware that the current culture context of this it is very common for Fancy Degree people to be praised and everyone else to be looked down upon. Right, but in tech, where most are paid astronomically high salaries, if the Fancy Degree is looked down upon, then aren't the non-Fancy-Degree people in a fairly privileged position? Maybe this attitude is only prevalent in the online HN forum, and Fancy Degrees are actually valued in industry.
    - nsp 9y ago
      A fancy degree not being a prerequisite for a job doesn't mean it's a negative indicator - there are plenty of people with fancy degrees(degrees from prestigious colleges) in the tech industry.
    - stale2002 9y ago
      A fancy degree is certainly an accomplishment and potentially a good path to follow, but it is one path among many. There are lots and lots of other paths that one could follow, and they all have both advantages and disadvantages. One path is not automatically better than any of the others 100% of the time. The problem is that the common, pro-fancy degree perspective comes from a very hierarchical perspective that just isn't true at all. It assumes that Harvard is better Stanford which is better than a tier 2 or tier 1.5 school. There is even a hierarchy AMONG similar fancy degrees. IE, Computer Science is better than Information Systems. Many an Information Systems major will be able to talk about their experience of being shit on for their choices because apparently everyone thinks that the only reason to do Information Systems is because you didn't get accepted to computer science. Because of the hierarchical cultural context in which we are in, I am not going to criticize Info systems majors for making fun of CS majors, nor will I criticize startupy, non-fancy degree holders on HN for making fun of the fancy degree holders.

Similarly here. School wasn't the best fit for me and tech was great because (like politics, which I also spent ~5 years in) you didn't need a fancy degree to get a job.

Karrot_Kream 9y ago

> you didn't need a fancy degree to get a job. What's wrong with a fancy degree? I don't understand why fancy degree is used as a pejorative around here. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that most people these days that come from bootcamps make more money than people with "fancy degree"s.

Rjevski 9y ago
Nothing wrong per se, but personally I see it as a waste of time - you could've built real products and actually improved the world during the time wasted on that fancy degree.
- Karrot_Kream 9y ago
  > actually improved the world during the time You're gonna have to really qualify that statement. The vast majority of tech startups do not improve the world in any way.
  - Rjevski 9y ago
    Okay, so does the vast majority of degrees improve the world? Even if 1 out of 1000 startups improved the world it's still an improvement over students writing (often crappy) code just to prove their university they're worth enough to get that degree.
- pigscantfly 9y ago
  What about all of the grad students working and doing research? I'd argue that their labor improves society more than the average startup.
awgme 9y ago
Nothing is wrong with a fancy degree, and I don't think OP is invalidating or shining a negative light on a fancy degree. OP is just saying that you could also get into tech/politics without the necessity of requiring one
- barsonme 9y ago
  yep. i wasn't looking down on a 'fancy degree' at all. in fact, i'd love to have one!
Klockan 9y ago
The pejorative is for companies that are requiring fancy degrees for simple jobs and not for the degrees themselves.
stale2002 9y ago
It is not that there is anything wrong with a fancy degree per se. The problem is the opposite. People with fancy degrees often look down on others who DON'T have fancy degrees. Thus, other people often engage in defense, counter ribbing at the other side. But we need to be aware that the current culture context of this it is very common for Fancy Degree people to be praised and everyone else to be looked down upon.
- Karrot_Kream 9y ago
  > The problem is the opposite. People with fancy degrees often look down on others who DON'T have fancy degrees. Arrogance is not a desirable trait in any person, but doesn't a fancy degree take work? I find it interesting that on HN we seem to hold up startup employees as shining examples but fancy degree holders as corrupt power brokers, when both take quite a bit of effort. > But we need to be aware that the current culture context of this it is very common for Fancy Degree people to be praised and everyone else to be looked down upon. Right, but in tech, where most are paid astronomically high salaries, if the Fancy Degree is looked down upon, then aren't the non-Fancy-Degree people in a fairly privileged position? Maybe this attitude is only prevalent in the online HN forum, and Fancy Degrees are actually valued in industry.
  - nsp 9y ago
    A fancy degree not being a prerequisite for a job doesn't mean it's a negative indicator - there are plenty of people with fancy degrees(degrees from prestigious colleges) in the tech industry.
  - stale2002 9y ago
    A fancy degree is certainly an accomplishment and potentially a good path to follow, but it is one path among many. There are lots and lots of other paths that one could follow, and they all have both advantages and disadvantages. One path is not automatically better than any of the others 100% of the time. The problem is that the common, pro-fancy degree perspective comes from a very hierarchical perspective that just isn't true at all. It assumes that Harvard is better Stanford which is better than a tier 2 or tier 1.5 school. There is even a hierarchy AMONG similar fancy degrees. IE, Computer Science is better than Information Systems. Many an Information Systems major will be able to talk about their experience of being shit on for their choices because apparently everyone thinks that the only reason to do Information Systems is because you didn't get accepted to computer science. Because of the hierarchical cultural context in which we are in, I am not going to criticize Info systems majors for making fun of CS majors, nor will I criticize startupy, non-fancy degree holders on HN for making fun of the fancy degree holders.